United to Overcome the Enemy
“When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other… The army fled…”
“Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.” (Judges 7:22, Matt 12:25)
The atmosphere in Kakumba Chapel was electrified by the glowingly delivered Worship Experience by the City Life Kosher Band (one of our cells) last Friday evening. The theme was “Called to Kingdom Service”; well-arranged hymns and songs took the congregation back and forth from meditative contemplation to praise dance vigour until the eighteen-song list was over, leaving the congregation craving for more. More is loading indeed… I begin here to introduce the today’s topic: United to Overcome the Enemy: Producing great music as a band takes a great deal of commitment to unity. Long hours in rehearsals and planning to agree on the final product characterize every team that appears on the big stage. The goal is to lead in worship, and there are enemies against this noble duty, which must be overcome by a united team.
The stories in Judges 7 and Matt 12:22-29 emphasize and amplify the necessity of unity to overcome the enemy. There are different types and sizes of enemies, and here we are talking of enemy armies like the Midianites and Amalekites – thick as locusts – that attacked Gideon’s Israel; or the kind of burglars that break into houses. Such enemies are never small, and part of their attacking strategy is using numbers to overwhelm their victim. From Gideon’s story, we see God sizing down the Israelites army, but it was not really sizing down; it was actually forming a united team (though small). The very large army would have been weak because of disunity (caused by fear among some and inadequate commitment by others); God directed Gideon on downsizing to the final 300 who had to unity of courage and commitment, and with these a great victory was won.
Take note that though Gideon’s 300 men were united, he had to divide them into three divisions before the final assault. Small groups or cells can be an effective way to strengthen the unity of the whole army, and there are battles that can only be won with this strategy. Here at Kakumba Chapel, we are faced with such battles – that is why the encouragement to form and participate in effective small groups has been loud and keeps on. Remember that the devil many times attacks as a Legion (an army of demons!) Jesus used an unfortunate blasphemous incident to make an important point about unity against an enemy. The body of Christ has many members that must remain coordinated and united in order to defeat the devil. I pray the Lord to give you the grace and humility to remain an active soldier in the army of the Lord while participating in a small group to contribute to the victory of the entire body.
God bless you!